Peat Bog, Scotland c. 19th century

Editor: Here we have Turner's "Peat Bog, Scotland" from the Harvard Art Museums. The etching feels quite barren, almost desolate in its stark composition. What strikes you when you look at this work? Curator: The linear network predominates. Notice how Turner employs hatching and cross-hatching to delineate form and texture. The density of these marks creates tonal variation, suggesting depth and atmospheric perspective. How does this technique affect your perception of space within the composition? Editor: It flattens it, somewhat, but there's also a clear foreground and background. It's contradictory. Curator: Precisely. This tension between flatness and depth activates the picture plane. It is in this friction that the aesthetic experience emerges. Editor: I hadn't considered it that way. Thanks for pointing that out. Curator: My pleasure. These formal qualities invite us to contemplate the very nature of representation.